Double Red
by artistgirl1221
Summary: Located in the future, where technology has allowed people to upload themselves to video games, a 19 year old girl who goes by Red has gained much respect as a highly trained assassin in Minecraft who works to make Minecraft criminal and griefer free. Yet what will happen when Notch hires Red to kill the biggest legend in Minecraft? Things just got difficult...and dark.
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

I want to apologize. I realize I have began many stories, some which could've been really good, and not contiued with any of them. This next story will hopefully be continued. I have the whole story planned out. Again, sorry I haven't done much story posting. I promise: I will finish this one before starting another. This story will be my top priority. Without further adue, please enjoy

 **Double Red**


	2. A Special Client

**Double Red**

Prologue

Notch looked around the stadium where plenty of young swordsmen were practicing. He smiled softly, knowing that without him the players wouldn't even know how to craft the swords or use them. Sitting in the middle of the stand, his gaze left the swordsmen and wandered over to another younger player. Except it wasn't a he. The player threw back the black hood covering their face to reveal long dirty blond hair. When the girl turned around, causing her cape to fly a little in the wind, he was stunned to find her eyes red as blood. Even then they looked…different. Like an ancient secret was hidden in her very soul and only she could ever understand it. Drawing out her silver blade, she leaned back against the wall. A horn blew, signaling the other swordsmen to go to the wall. Battles were about to happen. Seeing the girl for the first time, the boys laughed, snickering and stating how a girl could never beat guys. The coach took his spot at the stadium and began to speak.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! I am Rob Silver, head of the School of Silver Swordsmen. These are a few of my students and they will be in a small competition today to show off their skills. But this fight will be special because," Rob smiled and beckoned the young girl to the middle of the dirt fighting circle. Her face gave no sign of shock or nervousness, to Notch's surprise. "This student, Red Linkwood, will be facing the other students; alone." A gasp came from the crowd and a couple of cheers. The boys looked surprised and a few laughed at the idea of a girl facing all of them. None the less, they took their spots at the opposite side of the arena from where Red stood. They each drew out silver swords, some in good condition where as others could use some attention. Red stood still, her black cape waving gently in the wind as she pulled her long, gleaming silver sword out. It glowed in the sun, reflecting the light and showing the sharp edges clear as day. The air seemed to freeze as Rob Silver held up a silver flag. Then, he swished it down, signaling the beginning of the match. Red took a deep breath and pulled her hood up. Three boys sprinted at her at an incredible speed, their swords aimed at her. With a few simple swings, she deflected the first boy's blade and met the second one's blade. Pushing him away into the wall, she flipped backwards through the air, landing on the third boy's sword and elbowing him to the ground while she kicked his sword out of reach. Turning quickly, she kicked the first boy in the stomach and hit him a few time with her sword so fast that Notch couldn't keep up with the movement. Using her sword, she flung his out of his hand and into the air while she kicked him to the ground. Twisting around to meet the second boy, she aimed her sword at his throat, catching the sword that had been thrown into the air and aiming it at his head. Red wasn't even breathing hard as the first and third boy lay on the ground in pain and the second dropped his sword, raising his hands in surrender; and all this happened in a matter of minutes. The air was still as Red lowered both swords, letting her opponents go. Notch stared in amazement as more boys came at Red. Every fight ended the same way; some boys on the ground while Red held one or more swords dangerously close to their throats.

At the end of the round, every young swordsman was tired and beat, but Red still stood tall, her hood hiding her eyes which emitted a small red glow. Notch smiled slightly, mentally remembering her name. The job he had open may be one that Red Linkwood may finally be able to succeed at. So when she was older, he would hire her for sure. The name stuck in his head for many years. Those two simple words along with the memory of that first arena battle.

 _Red Linkwood._

 **Encounter**

Red breathed hard but quietly as she slipped noiselessly through the dark streets of Realm, the capital city of all of Minecraft. Her long silver blade in her hand, she jumped one, two, three steps up a wall and continued to run. Her thoughts were racing so fast that she didn't even know if she was thinking. The only constant thing that stayed in her mind was a face that looked much like that of Steve's, the first Minecrafter. The only difference; the white glowing eyes. A flashback rose from the depths of her mind and overcame her as she jumped of the city wall Red had been running on and disappeared into the dark, foggy forest.

 _Red walked into the Mojang building, her eyes narrowed as she said nothing. The stone walls looked fancy but kept more cold air in then warm, making the air in the facility chilly. Pulling up her scarf so that her eyes were barely shown, she walked past the lobby and towards the main desk._

 _"I'm here for a meeting." Red stated flatly, her voice giving away no emotions. "With Notch, 3:30." Not looking up, the receptionist, a young woman with long black hair and a black tank top with blue jeans, pointed towards a door on the right._

 _"Mr. Notch is in his office on the second floor. The stair case is at the end of the room, past all the computers." Muttering a small thank you, Red pulled her hood off and, revealing her head full of dirty blond hair, the ends tipped in brown. She walked through the door and swallowed a small gasp. Rows and rows of computers filled the room. Each desk held a worker, an updater, a designer; someone who was in total control of the Minecraft world, creating the updates, helping stop griefers and control servers and realms. Every now and then a few desks were bigger than the others, showing the importance of that particular employee. Yet all workers were at their desks, either chatting with other employees and discussing new ideas or staring at their screens, their fingers typing furiously while their faces showed different emotions such as frustration, surprise, shock, and sometimes anger. Hesitantly, Red walked slowly past the computers. Trying to stand up straight and tall in hopes to show her power and seriousness, she smiled beneath her scarf when a couple of employees looked at her, stopping their conversations and whispering. The things they whispered made her feel more powerful and dangerous: "That's Red, the assassin! I heard she's responsible for assassinating even the worst of griefers!". "I heard her mom, Ingrid, was responsible for putting together amazing teams and creating some of the most amazing builds in Minecraft!" "Her dad, Jeremy, was probably the most skilled blacksmith in the northwestern part of Minecraft before he passed a few years ago in a fire." "From what I heard, Notch was planning on hiring her to kill…" The last of that sentence was lost in the rest of the murmuring._

 _Reaching the first of the stone steps, Red ascended rather quickly as her curiosity suddenly rose. Why would Notch, the creator of Minecraft, want to see Red? Or hire her possibly? And who did her want her to murder?!_

 _Approaching the door, Red took a deep and shaky breath. Suddenly overcome with nervousness, she waited a few seconds as she tried to decide if she should knock on the door or not._

 _Without warning, the iron door sprung open. Looking down, Red saw that she was stepping on a smooth golden pressure plate which had sent a redstone signal to the door. Having no choice, Red walked off the pressure plate and into Notch's office where he sat at his computer._

 _Hearing the door click shut, Notch whirled around in his chair so that he was face to face with Red, who had uncomfortably pulled her black hood back up over her head. Notch had no hair except for a black beard. His brown shirt was tattered at the sleeves and his gray pants looked slightly tattered as well. Simple black shoes complemented his black eyes which looked dark and bottomless. He motioned for Red to sit on the couch and she did so, signaling the beginning of the meeting._

 _"I know much about you, Red. And I have a job for you." Notch began. Red sat quietly, slightly stunned with how the conversation had begun. His words echoed in her mind,_ I know much about you Red. _"Have you heard of someone known as…Herobrine?" Red's eyes widened as she swallowed hard, trying to find her voice._

 _"Y-yes. Herobrine used to be a creator of Minecraft, but when he didn't get his way, he decided to destroy instead of create. He is the biggest griefer and murderer in Minecraft. He is almost never seen and thought to just be a legend. A myth. Something that would be told as a ghost story around a camp fire." Red's eyes filled with confusion as she looked at Notch in wonder. "He's just a character of some stupid story…What does he have to do with anything?"_

 _Notch's face grew dark and somewhat angry, as though something bad that happened long ago had risen again. "It….is not a story." Notch got up and walked over to the window and looked out. "When I first began to develop Minecraft, I had an assistant. He and I were very close, both in game and in the real world. He had many ideas about how to develop the game, some good some bad. When I declined his biggest idea yet, one that I forbid myself to even speak of, he turned on me. With the technology he designed, he trapped himself in the game, but not before he granted himself with a program he also developed. The coding allowed him to overcome anything in Minecraft, including commands, restarts, debugging systems, and even updates. Forever trapped, he became the biggest myth, and enemy, of Mojang. His name was Briane Herostil, which when combined gave him the name Herobrine." Red had not stated even a sarcastic remark, too stunned by the truth behind the evil that lurked in the darkest parts of the game she loved so much. Herobrine, the griefer of all griefers, the murderer of thousands, the hacker and creeper of the world's largest gaming community; a real person forever locked in the game. Red sighed deeply, trying to hide the shakiness. Standing up, Red glared at Notch with her ruby eyes, filled with no emotions as though her soul and thoughts were trapped in a place no one would ever see. Bluntly and dangerously, Red stared into Notch's black eyes and simply stated, "So, you want me to kill Herobrine?" Nodding Notch looked back at her with the same intense stare._

 _"I saw you when you were younger, a beginning player in this game. You learned blacksmithing from your father and the ability to build the best forts and traps from your mother. You are the best assassin in the game, and the only one who only kills players that need to be killed. I find that with your skill and technique, you can kill Herobrine. When he dies, I will be able to delete his code and finally ridding the world and game of Briane Herostil. Can I count on you to succeed?" Closing her eyes and heaving a sigh, Red's eyes glowed when she looked back up at him, evil and determination set in her eyes._

 _"I am the best assassin. He's as good as dead within a week, if not sooner."_

The flashback fading, Red's eyes glowed blood red, giving her a dangerous and hostile look. Lightning flashed, illuminating a big mansion. It was a mix of stone and dark wood. Moss grew everywhere and lots of the stone was cracked and broken. Holes dotted the pathway and most of the wall had been worn away by past storms, much like the one that was about to start. Red's eyes narrowed and the red glow gave the doorway a much creepier look. Blood boiling, Red thought of how she would attack. Her reflexes would have to be very fast. Herobrine's special program he'd put into himself allowed him to teleport and hit her without being shown or even next to her. Red needed to be careful if she was to succeed. Killing Herobrine would definitely make her the top of the top of Minecraft assassins. Red breathed quietly and pushed the door open, her assassin instincts taking her over. The silver blade she carried was no longer reflecting light in the dim house which would help her in battle.

Mansions were usually huge on the inside like on the outside but this one was different. Despite the bad condition, torches still lined the mossy walls and only a few dark holes and crevices could really be seen. Holes in the roof or walls were fairly small compared to the holes that had been seen in other abandoned houses. Creaky wooden stairs that had been weathered down led to a second level. Carefully, Red climbed the railing of the stairs, hanging above the floor and ascending higher and higher into the air. Once at the top, Red pulled herself over the rail and dropped to the floor, barely making a sound. Lightning sounded followed by a massive clap of thunder. Light from the natural strike of electricity had illuminated a figure in the room ahead. With soundless, firm steps, Red approached the ghostly figure. To her surprise, Herobrine never moved. When close enough, Red raised her sword, taking aim at his neck. Angrily and determined, she swung…and Herobrine was no more. Red looked down as his glowing white eyes faded and he disintegrated into nothingness.

"That easy, huh? Either Herobrine was a moron or Notch got some facts wrong because that was the easiest assassination ever." Red revealed a blood stained brown cloth and wiped the sizzling blood from her sword.

Red left the mansion and the legend of Herobrine with an uneasy stomach. Somehow she felt it wasn't over…like it was the beginning of something, instead. Shaking off the feeling, Red walked through the forest, the myth of the ghostly Herobrine fading away.

 **Three Months Later**

Red lashed out in fury, an annoyed cry escaping her mouth. The black shadow whisked past her again, taunting her as she failed to strike it with the, still clean, silver blade that she held. Throwing her hood off in agitation, she saw narrowed her now glowing eyes and stared furiously into the gleaming white eyes of Herobrine, who began to form from the black smoke.

"My dear, dear Red. Hasn't this foolish game of yours gone on for long enough?" Herobrine chuckled, moving past Red as she aimed her blade at him. "Why not just….stop? You've obviously figured out that I can't BE assassinated so why continue trying?"

Red growled when Herobrine touched the top of her head, pulling her hood down to reveal her dirty golden locks. Blood boiling, the sword slid right through Herobrine's neck which merely made him laugh when Red opened her mouth, a tart remark on her lips.

"Well, SORRRY I have a job to do. And when I'm hired for something, I don't think you understand how seriously I take it." With the winter setting in, Red had worn her black jacket, the one with the brownish red sleeves. It waved in the wind, as though it had known to blow so as to make Red look like she handled her job as seriously as she handled her own life. "EVEN if that means I have to spend three whole freaking months rekilling the same bastard over and over again!" Swiping her sword into Herobrine, her anger rose when he turned to smoke and reappeared behind her.

"Then maybe you'd like to stop. Tell you what," Herobrine somehow made Red's sword disappear as he stood very close to her, his face right next to hers. Red's face flushed almost as red as her eyes with both agitation and embarrassment. Herobrine would get close to infuriate her more; it was in fact common for him to do that every time she attempted to kill him…again. But this was much closer and it made Red feel uncomfortable, especially since she should've been able to kill him then and there; the feeling (and knowing) that he would return in days' time stopped her. No point in killing if he would reappear soon. "If you stop trying to kill me, I'll tell you what Notch has been hiding from you." Red froze, shocked as she tried to shake herself mentally. _He's just messing with me. Notch is Minecraft's creator. He wouldn't lie…would he?_ Doing her best to appear, well NOT SHOCKED, Red cleared her throat and stared at Herobrine's white glowing eyes with her equally red glowing eyes.

"Tell me, what is it that Notch has supposedly been hiding from me, _Herobrine_?" Red spat his name out. "What is it that is somehow going to change my mind about killing you?" Red's eyes narrowed as she turned around and walked to lean against the wall, pulling her hood and scarf up. Heart suddenly pounding, Red started to struggle to not have shaky breaths. Herobrine smirked, somehow knowing Red was struggling to stay serious. Chuckling, Herobrine motioned to sit down, which Red stayed silent and ignored.

"Notch," Herobrine laughed. "Has been using you." Red raised in eyebrow, notifying Herobrine that his supposed true statement wasn't being bought. Sighing, Herobrine sounded agitated as he continued. "Sit and I'll tell you, curious girl." Herobrine sat beside Red, leaning against the wall. Red, who had found her sword, reluctantly sat down as well. Staring straight ahead, she reminded herself that this was Herobrine she was dealing with. A cold blooded murderer who enjoyed killing Minecrafters and griefing every building on every server, multiplayer or not. What he would say next would not definetly be true...but then again, it wouldn't necessarily be a lie, either.

When Red was situated, Herobrine opened his hand, his block fingers waving around in a spherical form. Eye's growing thin, Red reached for her sword, preparing to draw. To her suprise, a sorta of...mist had appeared. The mist stayed in a spherical type shape, drizzling down from an unknown source and fading into nothingness. Colors of the rainbow outlined the sphere, although it was barely noticable. Her attention turning to Herobrine, Red gasped as Herobrine closed his eyes then opened them, a small part of the glow somehow escaping his eyes and swirling into the mist, creating a bright glow. A man was beginning to appear in the mist, a fuzzy image of a bald man sitting at a computer...with a black beard. _Notch._ Red instantly recognized her customer. Another man, one with a head full of snowy hair and a beard just as white. Notch motioned to the fellow worker to sit. The image finally stabalizing, Red could now see and hear the scene clearly.

 _"What is it Notch? Did that Red girl take the job?"_

 _"Oh, yes she did. She seemed very eager to take the job, Jeb."_

 _"So...you think the plan will work? Think Herobrine will take the bait?"_

 _"I don't see why he wouldn't. If everything goes according to plan, Red won't rest till Herobrine is dead. We both know he can't die so he should be occupied enough for now with Red that we can work on that debugging program without him disrupting us._

 _"Don't you think she should know about this? About us using her as bait?"_

 _"Jeb, that girl seems tough. I don't doubt her skills what-so-ever. But I wouldn't risk her denying the job out of fear of dying, or wasting time. It's best she doesn't find out till that debugging program is finished."_

 _"But Notch I just think-"_

 _"No Jeb! Red is not to know about this, understood?"_

 _*sigh* "Yes, Notch."_

Red had begun to shake with fury as the mist evaporated. Breathing heavily, Red tried to remind herself: she wasn't even sure what that was. It could've been some fake hallucination. _But it's not, is it?_ Her subconcious knew better, as did her concious in general. Gritting her teeth, Red picked her words carefully.

"Herobrine," Herobrine was rubbing his head, as though in pain. Eyes squinted a bit, he looked at Red. Red held in a gasp as she met his eyes. For the first time since she'd taken the job, Herobrine's eyes weren't full of hate, or evil or mischief. They seemed...relaxed. Slightly in pain but relaxed; and sane. Giving herself a mental shake, Red continued. "Herobrine, what exactly was that? The mist-ball thing? The scene? What was it?" Herobrine groaned, using the wall to get up in which Red followed.

"It was a code I don't use too often. It gives me a headache, as you can tell." Herobrine shrugged, his hands digging into his pockets as he turned towards her. "Basically, the program looks through the video that was stored in my memory as a player. It goes back and finds the "memory" that I want to play back and, as you can tell, pulls it out of my head by way of pulling the light out of my eyes. Sort of meant to represent pulling part of my life out, since a life is commonly represented by a light source. The ball of mist is a much simpler code, used to display things whether it's a memory or a video that was saved to your memory card when you logged on. Inserting a video from your memory card is simple; anyone can do it. It's pulling the memory from the memory card that's difficult." Red's eyes had filled with an interest of sorts. Herobrine, no matter how many crimes he'd committed in the game and no matter how bad his past actions were, he certainly knew his stuff.

"So, everything you do is by a code? How do you do that? Do you do it in your mind or does each code have a sort of mental link or-" Herobrine laughed and...smiled. Red pulled her scarf and hood down and smiled back.

"For an assassin who's meant to kill me, you seem pretty interested in what I do. Why so curious?" Herobrine studied Red, looking her up and down. "You are gorgeous you know that?" Red blushed a bit, shock plastered on her face as she struggled to reply. _Why can't I respond? I'm an assassin! This is not serious; this is struggling! Pull it together!_ "Uh...t-thank you? I mean..it's just no one's ever said that to me so..." Red looked away, throwing her hood and scarf back up to hide her ever reddening face. "Thanks...and I don't know. I guess I've just always been curious about programming and those cheat codes." Red sighed and turned her attention back to Herobrine. "PLus, I want to get revenge. That bastard Notch has no right to be using me as some..." Anger resurfacing, Red spat the last half of the sentence with pure venom. "PUPPET that is supposed to distract someone that is bugging him!" Herobrine's eyes had returned to their evil, mischivious selves. He grinned malichiously, an idea forming in his head.

"Well..Red," The legendary figure lifted her face to stare up at him, causing her to blush as her rage grew. "How about this? Stay with me." Red froze, confused.

"Waitwhat?" The young assassin was unsure about what she'd just heard. _STAY with Herobrine? Like...stay in the mansion? What's he trying to propose?_ "I-I'm sorry I'm confused. What do you mean by 'stay with you'?" Chuckling, the white eyed man motioned for her to follow him. Climbing the staircase, Red was lead to a room that wasn't actually in too bad of a condition. It's walls were made of the same stone as the rest of the building while the carpet, which used to be white and fluffy, was a slightly creamy color that was soft. A two-person sized bed which were covered in a simple blue quilt was against the middle of the wall on the right. To each side of the bed was a dark wood colored nightstand. One held a lamp with a black lampshade and a clock while the other was bare except for the dust. A dresser with a mirror above it was on the oposite wall, which held a fresh boquet of roses in a vase half full of water. On the back wall was a painting of a gorgeous sunset over the mountains which hung above two dark wooded doors, leading out to a balachony that looked over a river. Red's gaze traveled around the gorgeous room, too stunned by the quality, and beuty, to reply. Stuttering, she found it hard to speak again.

Laughing, Herobrine came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I mean stay in this room. In the mansion with me. I can teach you the cheat codes I know AND help you get revenge on that damn son of a bitch, Notch. I also, for some reason, have a few sword fighting videos in my memory card which I can send to you so you can watch them on your own after you learn the code to the screen of mist." Standing in front of her, Herobrine opened his arms with the question plastered on his face which still had an mischevious grin on it. "So, waddya say? Wanna become my partner in crime?" Deep in thought, Red motioned Herobrine to follow her. Both killers descended the stairway and Red opened the mansion door, revealing a cool, clear night. A chilly wind opened the door a little more. Pulling her scarf down, Red gave a genuine smile to Herobrine as she stepped out the door. "I'll think about it." With that, Red was gone into the night, leaving Herobrine by himself. For some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about Red. There was something special about her. _Forget it._ The legend shrugged and closed the door, letting the eeriness settle on the dark mansion yet again.

 **SOMEWHERE ELSE...**

Notch looked up from his computer, his eyes red from staring at the computer screen for 3 hours straight. Jeb sat on the couch, asleep. A half drunk cup of coffee sat motionless on the coffee table. Moonlight shown through the window, illuminating the dark office. Standing up to stretch, Notch felt his skin prickle and the hair on his neck rise. Like he was being watched. Narrowing his eyes, Notch opened the balachony doors and let his eyes fall on the dark forest, where a shadow was emerging from the shadows. _Red._ She quickly ran into town, obviously hoping not to be seen. Something unnerved Notch. Something had happened, and it may affect everything he was working towards. Jeb's words haunted him:

 _"So...you think the plan will work? Think Herobrine will take the bait?"_

 _"I don't see why he wouldn't. If everything goes according to plan, Red won't rest till Herobrine is dead. We both know he can't die so he should be occupied enough for now with Red that we can work on that debugging program without him disrupting us._

 _"Don't you think she should know about this? About us using her as bait?"_

 _"Jeb, that girl seems tough. I don't doubt her skills what-so-ever. But I wouldn't risk her denying the job out of fear of dying, or wasting time. It's best she doesn't find out till that debugging program is finished."_

 _"But Notch I just think-"_

 _"No Jeb! Red is not to know about this, understood?"_

 _*sigh* "Yes, Notch."_

"She will know, soon enough Jeb." Notch's voice deepened and grew cold. "Soon."


	3. Day Off Surprise

Red's eyes opened slowly, the bright sunlight lighting up her dull bedroom. Staring at the ceiling, a groan escaped her mouth. The night before had been another unsuccessful assassination attempt on Herobrine. That wasn't the strangest part though; Herobrine had used some sort of cheat code that showed her a scene of Notch talking to a man named Jeb. In the scene, Notch had been discussing with Jeb whether or not they should tell Red about them using her as bait for Herobrine. Blood boiling, Red jumped out of bed and stretched. Today was her day off thank goodness. Failing to kill Herobrine for three months really put her in a bad mood so a day off would do her some good and last night's fiasco didn't help. Her gaze slowly moving around the room, an image of the spare bedroom in Herobrine's mansion popped up. Surprisingly, that creep had a better spare room than she had in her two story house. A small wooden bed was in the corner farthest from the door which led downstairs into her blacksmith shop and kitchen. The quilt wasn't anything special; just the standard red color all Minecraft beds were. The wall the bed was against was a huge glass wall as was the wall next to it. Leaning against the wall of see-through material, Red noticed other Minecraft players moving around busily, some going into shops for weapons, armor and food while others shielded themselves from the blazing sun in the shade of small oak trees that lined the gravel street. Newer players, often the size of kids, ran around happily as they grew acccustomed to the game. _Which reminds me..._ A golden clock began ringing furiously, screaming at Red who was startled enough to slip and fall on the ground.

"Stupid...damn clock." Red, now in a worse mood, turned the screaming time-keeper off as she shook her head and stood up. _I've been in the game for almost 3 hours. I really need to log off._ The thought surfaced in Red's head but was quickly demolished as a bell's ding sounded downstairs, alerting Red to a customer downstairs. Taking off her jacket and scarf, Red looked down at her simple black shirt and black jeans with black and red boots. _Note to self; change my skin to something casual._

After helping a young man by the name of Aaron, a miner who often came to Red for new picks, the oak doors of the closet were opened up. Closets were a little different in Minecraft compared to the real world. Glowing white screens with a code attached on the top showed pictures of different skins the player had saved to their memory card. Scrolling through them, Red was extra picky today. Finally settling on an orange top with white shorts and black flats, Red sighed gladly. Outside, the clouds covered the sun as the breeze picked up slightly. Today would be her day to relax and she'd make the best of it.

"Open: private messages." Silver light blinded the assassin temporarily before settling to a dim glow. In front of her floated a grey box outlined with white. In it showed a few of the private messages she had. Touching the most recent conversation, a picture of a black haired boy with a hat on backwards and a black jacket popped up. His emerald green eyes were vibrant as well as the blue stripes on his black hoodie. White and blue shoes covered his blocky feet and suspenders hung from his dark grey jeans. "Send private message to: Zach309." Keys from a keyboard popped up with the question _what would you like to tell Zach309?_ Pressing the microphone to speak instead of type, Red spoke slowly so as not to confuse the computer in charge of typing. "Today is my day off. Would you like to meet me at the edge of the river? We could boat; or go fishing?" Hitting the send button, Red dismissed the private messaging box. Then, making sure her house was locked, Red set out for the small cottage by the river.

"Hey! Red, over here!" A semi-deep voice caught Red's attention, pulling her eyes to the edge of the river with sugar cane. Across the river was a small, flat area of grass that ascended up into a large mountain not far from the water. Tall, dark oak trees lined the edge of the river where tall grass, mushrooms and sugarcane flourished. The bank of the river was lined with sand where the sugar cane was and merged into tilled earth where a small farm held potatoes, carrots and wheat. A medium-sized two story house overlooked the gorgeous area. Zach309, or Zach, was on the balcony yelling down at Red. Smiling, Red ran into the house and climbed the wooden ladders to meet her friend, both in Minecraft and in real life.

"How have YOU been, Red? Heard you took up the job of assassinating the eeevil legend." Zach laughed as he hugged Red, causing her to groan as he asked that in a creepy voice. Whacking him upside the head, he laughed again at his friend's annoyed attitude.

"How do you know that? Were you hacking again-or, trying to hack?" Red's face was emotionless as she stared accusingly at Zach who raised his hands in a fake surrender.

"You know me too well, Red. Waaay too well. So, I actually have a few questions, well my friend does. I don't know the answers exactly so I figured you could help being Miss Techy." Zach walked out to the balcony laughing and leaned against the fence railing as Red followed. "I bought the uploading program that allows people to play Minecraft the way we are right now and I bought all the equipment but...how does it work? And is the server we're on Survival or Hardcore? Because I've never died so I don't know the definite answer."

Red leaned against the railing next to Zach, rolling her eyes and grinning. Zach had never been much of a technology guy unlike Red, who was taking a college course on the newest gaming technology in hopes of creating better gaming systems. Even so, the fact that he didn't even know if they were in Survival or Hardcore shocked her. "Well Zach, to begin with the simpler question, we are in Hardcore. Look at your hearts. What's different about them from the hearts in Survival?" Zach muttered "Health" in which his hotbar and crosshair came up. Studying the hearts, he replied in an unsure tone.

"They...uh...have red lines in a V shape in the heart?" Zach glanced at Red in hopes he was correct. His eyes lit up when Red nodded.

"Survival hearts don't have that dark red V in the heart. They just have the white reflection in the top left part of the heart. Another way you can figure out if you're on Survival or Hardcore mode is if you look at another play and say the word 'health' plus their username. Try it on me." Standing up straight, Red backed away as Zach focused on her and repeated what she had told him.

"Health CodeRed256." He forced himself to hold in a laugh when he said her username. This made the techno-assassin roll her eyes again.

"Yes yes, I know I know. The username I chose for my account in 7th grade is SO hilarious. Moving on. What do you see above my username?" Her eyes sparkled a little, holding in her own laugh. The username WAS ridiculous. It always made people laugh which was a good thing though so Red didn't mind too much.

"It says, "Health: 23...I didn't think health could be that high in Minecraft." Zach claimed, confused. "Isn't your health in Minecraft only able to be 20 points of health at the highest?" Red nodded then, after a minute of searching through the saved files that were in her memory data, she sent a file to Zach in private messages. "What's this?"

"This server added 10 health points. The file I sent has all sorts of information on this server." Red was searching for another file now. "That's why I have 23 health points. I manage to keep lots of health potions on me so I don't die, which helps considering what I do for a job. I used to have 30 but through the 3 months I've tried killing Herobrine, that bitch managed to scrape off 7 points." Going silent, Zach read the file.

After a few minutes of reading, Zach looked up to see Red growing frustrated. Apparently her search for a certain file wasn't going so well. "What's wrong? Can't find a certain file?"

"Yeah." Red spat bitterly. "The damn file that explains the gaming technology you and I use to upload ourselves to Minecraft to play on servers the way we do. The file explains how the gaming helmet connects all our nerves to the computer and manages to transfer our conscious minds INTO the computer, where as we know leads to playing in Minecraft with actual feeling in their blocky bodies." Looking over, Red caught Zach right as he was in the middle of mimicking her. Freezing, Zach laughed at the sight of Red reached the highest point of being annoyed.

"Uh-oh, it's a frisky kitty. Run!" Placing a ladder on the fence, Zach climbed over the balcony and jumped down, barely missing Red's punch range. Ironically, in his grand escape, his landing wasn't too good; he landed on his feet and fell to his knees, eventually falling on his stomach. Panicking, Zach rolled over and scrambled up, running to the water.

"DAMN IT ZACH!" Giggling, she followed him down expect landing more smoothly and actually ON her feet. Due to her better landing, Red managed to catch up to Zach before he hopped into the old wooden boat bobbing wildly in the wake. Tackling him, both Minecrafters went underwater, wrestling to see who'd win.

After, surprisingly, Zach won the water fight, the two young adults dried off and laid in the grass. The glowing sun's last daylight was shining brighter than usual, illuminating their faces. Stars began appearing and a cool breeze welcomed the night sky. Usually, most players would be going inside and hiding while others put on armor and gathered weapons to hunt mobs. This server controlled the areas where mobs spawned, though, so the two watched the sun disappear behind the hills peacefully.

Looking at his watch, Zach shot up. "Shit, I totally forgot! I've got a dinner plan! Red I gotta go, sorry." Red smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I'M the person you're going to dinner with, Zach. I think it's fine if we're a few minutes late. But I agree; I need to shower and actually put on real clothes."

"Dang Red. How long have you been on?!" Zach looked bewildered at the fact that Red was apparently still in pj's. In the real world that is.

"Uh," she looked away, scratching her head. "Almost….6 Minecraft da-"

"SIX?! You, my friend, have a problem. Six hours of Minecraft is RIDICULOUS!" Zach scoffed, standing up and helping his companion up. "Why do you play so often? Don't you have homework? You know, from college?"

Walking into the forest away from the river and towards her home, Red nodded. "Actually, this is my homework. The first project we're doing is trying to find new ways to improve the current system. So, everyone in the class chose a game that they'll play a ton and evaluate how to make gameplay more realistic from there." City lights were faintly visible through the leaves which wasn't a surprise; the "forest" wasn't very dense.

"Ooooohhhh, I get it." Zach jumped in front of Red and walked backwards so he could see her face. "That sounds fun. Although you must be tired a lo-WHOAH!" The older boy was caught off guard as he ran into a sapling and fell over it, breaking the baby tree and adding it to his inventory. "Damn it." Zach was not amused as Red was who was laughing quite a bit.

"Oh you. Hey we're here." Red pointed towards her home as Zach scrambled up to her, brushing himself off. "I have an extra bed you can stay in. It's safe I promise…..Zach?" Her friend was quiet.

"Red...look." Zach pointed straight ahead as though possessed. Following his gaze, Red caught her breath. Glowing white eyes stared down at her from her bedroom window.

"OH HELL NO!" Red yelled, furious. "I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO DEAL WITH YOU! FUCK OFF!" Running inside at top speed, multiple things were knocked off which Zach picked up hastily, trying to keep up with the pissed off assassin. "I swear I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind if that bitch is still up there." He wasn't to both Red's disappointment and approval. "What the hell…" She muttered, glaring at the spot where the dipshit had been standing.

"Red…wait…up." Zach was breathing heavier than normal as he wasn't used to running at that speed in either the real world or gaming world. "Where…where is he?" Zach squeezed by Red into her room, hands on knees as he tried to catch his breath. "He…he was just here…wasn't he?"

"Stay here." Red groaned, stepping cautiously around the room, preparing for a sneak attack. There wasn't one. It was plain as day. One minute Herobrine was here, the next, the room was as empty as it had been before. Except for one thing. A small book bound by a pink string and was surrounded by wavering waves of glowing purple magic. It bobbed up and down in the air above her bed, waiting to be picked up. Tapping it, Red noticed the title with disgust. " _Your Favorite Player Ever._ Yeah right." Walking close enough to pick it up, Red opened it right as Zach joined, standing behind her. Obviously, the book and quill it USED to be was an old one as it smelled musty and damp, like it had been in water. An image of a dank library covered with moss and littered with holes in the walls, holding a few rotting book shelves in a dark corner with plenty of book and quills waiting to be used, appeared in Red's mind. She shuddered, opening it to the first page and cleared her throat to read aloud.

 _"'Red, I know you hate me. But I want you to know I don't hate you…as much as you hate me at least. I have some information that I believe you'd like to know. Your 'friend' can come along. Here is what you are to do. Go on your dinner date or whatever then BOTH OF YOU log right back in. If you don't, you can say goodbye to whatever items you have in this old place as well as the building itself. You have until midnight real life time to log back on before I wreck not just your place on this server…but your account. Herobrine.'_ That little son of a bitch! I have 3 YEARS worth of items on this fucking server! And it's not a date…wait, how'd he even KNOW about that?!" Red's voice shook as she chucked the book at the wall, the book bouncing back onto her bed. Shaking in fury, Zach placed his hand on her shoulder. Somehow, that calmed her down enough to talk.

"Ok, let's just go to dinner and think about all this." Zach stared into Red's eyes with a pleading look as though silently begging her to take a few deep breaths and chill out. "We'll do what he says so none of your stuff, or account, is hacked or destroyed or whatever the hell that creep does for fun. Sound good?" The only answer he got was a head nod. "Alright. I'll sleep in the spare bedroom and you, obviously, sleep in here. I'll see you around 8 real world time, kay?" Another head nod. "Ok…see you then." Zach left without another word.

Red slumped over to her bed. Climbing in slowly and pulling the covers over, her eyes closed before any other thought. Her last words before sleep consumed her was, "Fuck you, Herobrine. I'll eliminate you if it's the last thing I do."


	4. Real World Feeling

"Oh. My. GOSH! YOU have a DATE with ZACH RICHARDSON?! He's, like, the hottest guy on campus, Heather!" A feminine voice that leaned towards the higher pitched side of voice sounds, made Heather cringe as she threw on a turquoise silk-type sweater with a dark magenta skirt. Lacing her black combat boots, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I've told you plenty of times Vanessa. Zach is a friend from when we were little. We always have dinner at least once a month, so you know, we can catch up. Sometimes we're both just too busy to talk." Heather was now inserting a pair of heart earrings that, ironically, were given to her by Zach. "I don't know why you keep considering them dates. They're nothing special."

"Well Miss Gadgets-galore," Vanessa teased her college roommate, jabbing her in the stomach. "You and Mr. Hotty seem to play on that one game a loooot. What is it again?"

Heather groaned. "Minecraft, Vanessa. And I have-

"Oh yeah!" Vanessa laughed as she stared at Heather. "With that ridiculous username you have. What is it, CodeRed with some numbers?" Another fit of giggles erupted from the younger girl.

Groaning, Heather continued. "As I was saying, I have to play a lot; it's part of my work for my system engineering class. He plays it cause he's in the game-development class. We both have to play for certain classes. So, we often play together. No biggy."

"Uh-huh. 'No biggy' you claim." Vanessa teased Heather as she made the quote-unquote hand sign. "Face it, Heather. You're smart, kind, fashionable, and fun to be around! Plus, I don't see how a guy could possibly deny attraction to your looks. Blue eyes, wavy, dark brown hair, you're GORGEOUS!" Vanessa clapped her hands together and sighed as she looked, rather dramatically, "off into the distance". "I can see the wedding now." All Heather replied with was an eye roll and a geeky smile. Her friend was just desperate for love so she'd often pick on Heather about Zach. Snatching her purse, the 20 year old college sophomore opened the door and stepped out.

"I'll see you later Vanessa! Have a good night!" All Heather heard as she closed the door was something along the lines of, "Have fun, lovebird!"

Zach was already outside waiting in his pickup truck. It was a rather nice truck and the black color fit Zach's personality. It was his pride and joy and one look at the vehicle proved that. "Heeey Red, what's up?!" Zach's deep but optimistic voice showed his bright personality no matter what it was he was actually saying. "So, think I'm rocking the black sweatshirt and jeans?"

Laughing, Heather shook her head. "Uh, no. And it's HEATHER in this world, Zach. Get it right." Heather giggled more when Zach's expression turned to a fake hurt.

"Oh…ok. I see how it is then…" His smile was almost as white as the moon and almost as bright as it as well. "Hey, can I have my keys back? I did EXACTLY as you told me to; I swear!"

"Send me the video proof first. Or just show me rather on your phone." Standing next to him, Zach reluctantly pulled out his IPhone 6 plus. "Yep. Your mini tablet of a phone." That earned Heather a jab in the ribs resulting in a squeal and a death glare.

After searching through Zach's overflowing gallery, a video was pulled up. Zach was standing there in his bathing suit in the middle of the road as a few of his friends stood in the background. Pressing the play button, Zach began the video with a small speech. His face and voice tone screamed his annoyance.

"Ok. So, my good friend, Heather Linkwood, took my car keys. I can no longer drive my truck until I allow my friends to throw water balloons full of washable paint at me. They filled up about 20 balloons…." Trying to hide her laughter, the young girl watched as Zach put on goggles and an old baseball cap that was so faded it looked more dark pink than red.; it did the job of covering his semi-long black hair, though which was all that mattered."Ok...I'm ready."

All of a sudden, multiple different colored balloons were chucked at Zach, hitting his body and exploding to create a rainbow of watery colors. Blue, yellow and orange mixed while running down his face and green plus purple coated his chest and stomach. When the video was done, her laughter couldn't be kept in.

"Oh my-"Heather couldn't keep it together. She really couldn't. Walking to the passenger side of the truck, she opened the door then looked over at Zach who was in the same position she was except on the driver's side. He looked so done as opened his hands which were filled with his keys after Heather tossed them to him. "You look so done."

Zach grunted and frowned but Heather saw that smirk he flashed before turning his truck on.

When arriving at their destination, a small coffee shop just down the road from the campus, Zach got out and jogged through the entrance, holding the door open for Heather. "The usual?" Zach questioned and, with a nod from his friend, walked up to the line that was being held up by a new employee who looked young enough to be a sophomore in college. Taking a seat at a table for two by the window at the front of the shop, Heather didn't even notice when it started to rain a little bit. The windows with tears running down the panes, Vanessa's words rang in Heather's ears. Glancing at her friend, Heather wouldn't try to deny Vanessa's claims. Zach WAS pretty cute. He was around 5' 8" with fairly dark skin and black as night hair that hung down a little bit. His eyes were a very unique color. Brown, or amber, with flecks of gold and blue gave his eyes a mysterious and impossible look. His smile made his face brighten up and made him seem like the type of guy who would do anything to help anyone. Which described Zach perfectly. In terms of personality, Zach was….interesting. Somehow he almost never got mad at anyone and could remain calm and collected in the direst of situations. The face he made when thinking made it look as though he was thinking of something dangerous and didn't want anyone to know. He would help anyone and, with that smile, make you feel safe and protected. Zach would be willing to help anyone on any day and managed to crack jokes that made awkward situations become light-hearted. The only thing that made people question Zach was how even if you stared into his eyes, you could never tell what he was thinking or feeling. He was as closed off as a brick building was to sunlight.

"Heathherrr," a hand waving in her face broke the adult out of her thinking bubble. "What're you thinking in there eh?" Zach tapped her head playfully as he handed her the cup of black tea with three sugar packets.

"Sorry Zach," A shallow laugh was the response that followed as Heather looked outside, her stomach sinking. The clock said 10:38. "I just….I have a bad feeling now." When the words left her lips, she became certain of it. Something was wrong. Something bigger than her, or anyone for that matter, was doing something and it wasn't good. Zach's golden eyes settled on her and for a rare second, Heather stared back surprised to see worry. "I…."

"Heather, you don't look well anymore. What's going on? Is it that Herobrine crap?" Zach actually sounded concerned. That was rare. "Heather?!" The girl was staring outside in horror but when Zach followed her gaze he saw nothing. Throwing his coffee out behind him, he grabbed his friend's hand and slowly pulled her up, her gaze drifting to him then back outside. "I-I don't think we should stay. You look sick Heather. I'm driving you back."

"No!" Heather almost shouted, causing the few people in the shop, and Zach, to look at her. She lowered her voice to try and tried again. "W-we can't Zach. I just….there's something…" Zach wasn't going to listen to this. Pulling her outside into the cold rain, he guided her to the truck and helped her in. Then, jogging to his side, he got in and started the car.

After a long silent drive, Heather walked back into her room. Her mind still shaken up from the horrid feeling of uncertainty, she passed by Vanessa without greeting. Which was ok since Vanessa didn't look up from her homework and music. Throwing her bag and boots aside, Heather quickly threw her pajamas on and got her logged into Minecraft. Laying down, she attached some wires to her temples, back of her neck, lower back, and all her joints in her arms and legs not including fingers or toes. Putting a set of see-through glasses, the login screen popped up, identified her, then put her to sleep.

Waking up, Red found herself in her bed just as she had left. The night was almost over in Minecraft. It had been 11:56 when she had logged in which meant that it would be a little past midnight. The time Herobrine had warned her to be back on. Clothing herself in her normal black attire and sword, she quietly went down the stairs and into the forest, meeting Zach where they had agreed to earlier. Without a word, the two headed to the abandoned mansion.

 **The Mansion**

Herorbine laughed as he saw two dark shapes enter the trees and disappear. "That girl," he muttered with envy. "Will be so much help to me. Whether or not she realizes it." And indeed she would be for the glitch that haunted the famous game had a plan that Red was the center piece of. It was only the beginning of the plan. There was so much more in store for her. "In time," Herorbine muttered again knowingly. "In time…"


End file.
